It was embarrassing, too. A healthy lifestyle is important to me. So important I included a chapter about health and nutrition in my book. But years of travel were taking their toll on my body, my health, and my spirit.

Then, this past December, my son hugged me goodnight and commented “Papa, your heart is beating fast”. Yeah, sometimes my heart was beating a bit faster than usual. I had noticed but didn’t think much about the palpitations until he said something. At that point I started thinking about friends and colleagues that have died suddenly due to heart failure.

So, it was time to make some changes.

Setting a Goal

I set a goal to run a local road race. It was a simple enough race, a 10k, something I have run many times before. I dusted off my account with Nike Run Club and picked out a training plan. The race was mid-March, giving me about 10 weeks of training.

The first two weeks I was up early and at the gym. I would walk on a treadmill for about 10 minutes, then jog for about ten (when I wasn’t winded) and then play basketball (again, when I was able to breathe).

I was two weeks into the training and decided to have a health screen. Well, I didn’t decide to have the health screen, I was bribed. My HMO offers a discount on monthly premiums if you consent to the screen. So, I give them my blood, they give me $50 a month reduction in premiums. For $600 on the year, I decided I would make the appointment.

When I got there, I told the physician that I didn’t want them to reveal my weight to me. They complied. I will assume they get that request a lot. When they took my blood pressure it was high enough to cause concern. We did it a second time, the reading was a tad lower, and they decided I didn’t need to be admitted to the hospital right away.

Prognosis Negative

Less than a week later my results showed up in an email. I didn’t look, fearing I would see my weight. A few days later an envelope showed up. Inside were my results. I put them aside, not wanting to see my weight.

A week later, curious to know about my cholesterol levels, I decided to look at the results. I knew it was possible to avoid seeing the weight and focus on the other metrics.

The results were poor. Alerts for total cholesterol and for glucose. The glucose results labeled me as “pre-diabetes”. My body was slowly refusing to break down insulin created naturally. I was on track to have Type-II diabetes.

I was now more determined than ever to make a change in my life.

Eat Bacon, Don’t Jog

Christmas 2016 I was given the book Eat Bacon, Don’t Jog, written by Grant Petersen. I opened it up and didn’t put it down until done.

Everyone should read this book. I wouldn’t tell you to follow all the advice, but there is bound to be something in there that you can take away. For me, it was reinforcing a few key concepts:

• The amount of carbs in my diet had me on track for Type2 diabetes.
• I would remove unnecessary carbs from my diet by cutting back on beer, wine, popcorn, chips, etc.
• I would eat more proteins during the day and get necessary carbs from leafy greens and some fruit.

Grant is a huge fan of keto. I’m not as big a fan, I don’t want my body to start consuming itself through ketogenesis.

OK, Maybe Jog a Little Bit

In addition to diet advice, Grant also talks about exercising. He is a big advocate for upping the intensity of a workout, instead of longer workouts. So, instead of jogging for 11 miles, you jog for 3 but pick up the pace. This is a training technique I did previously for road races, and worked well for me. Grant reminded me about the Tabata, a routine that encourages brief outputs of intensity. I started incorporating Tabatas as well.

And that’s been my life for 2018. I haven’t traveled as much this year, but when I do I bring my workout clothes and sneakers. In mid-July I was down a full 50 pounds. I still have more to go. My heart doesn’t race as much. I’m not as short of breath. I can jog again, and run up and down a basketball court without the need for an oxygen tank.

I don’t have a “before” photo to share, but here is the photo taken in the studio last month:

And here is a photo that helps to show how large my pants were, and I can see my feet again:

Here’s my list of tips and tricks for you. A quick warning: I am not a doctor. The things I did worked for me, they may not work for you. Like, not at all. Every person is different. This list is the result of decades of understanding what works best for my body and lifestyle. Take the parts that make sense for you and give them a try. You might find success as well.

Use a Meal Tracker

I use MyFitnessPal to track meals and exercise. This was a great way to understand all the different ways carbs were creeping into my diet. For me, it helps to write down what I eat during the day. If nothing else, it’s a great way to remind me how much I have eaten, which helps to avoid overeating. If you have an account, connect with me, I’d love to help you reach your goals.

Reduce Carbs

I tried to keep carbs low at first, less than 30g a day for a week or so. But I believe that your body needs a mixture of foods, like fiber, that have carbs. That’s why I call this “smart-carb”. I didn’t shun all of them, just the unnecessary ones. One of the worst things? That carb-tray that Delta passes around the first-class cabin. There’s nothing worth eating, so I pack my own Epic bars. I’ve cut back on beer and wine, too. I try to eat food higher in protein, low in carbs.

Build a food routine

For breakfast, a boiled egg, a slice of bacon, and a coffee is all I need. I do this most every day of the week. Even when I’m on the road I can find a boiled egg as part of the hotel continental breakfast. This lets me have a routine, and routine is good. For lunch I go with some leafy greens (OK, it’s a salad), with some protein (tune, chicken, steak). I find I don’t need to snack as much or as often. Then for dinner, whatever I want but avoid the unnecessary carbs from things like bread, pasta, and potatoes. Conference and event food can be difficult, but it get’s easier when you realize you can just eat the top of the pizza, and not the dough.

Get Moving

Exercise is something that works for me, but not for everyone. That’s something to consider. If you aren’t the person that enjoys a sweat, then you will need to make a lifestyle change to the foods you eat in order to lose weight. If you combine diet with exercise you can see faster results. Of course, if you let your body go into ketosis, then you’ll see even faster results. But I don’t believe ketosis is the right answer, just as I wouldn’t believe jogging 20 miles a day is the right answer.

Up the Intensity

You don’t need to work out for hours on end, if you up the intensity of your cardio workouts. A Tabata is a great way to improve your overall fitness and promote weight loss in a minimal amount of time. Fat cells don’t ever leave your body, they can only shrink. And they only shrink by releasing water or carbon dioxide. You know, like when you breathe heavy and/or sweat from working out.

Pack your sneakers

Every trip I have taken this year I have included my workout clothes and made time to get a sweat in during my regular workout day. My goal is to be active 3x a week. That means I need to work out when I’m on the road.

Track your progress

I knew I was overweight and refused to weigh myself. But if I had stepped on a scale, I may have started down a healthier path a long time ago. I can’t stress this enough: you need to measure your weight on a regular basis. If you don’t, then you don’t have any idea if your lifestyle may be slowly killing you. [NARRATOR VOICE: It most certainly is killing you.] I weigh myself a few times a week, and I don’t get mad when I gain a pound or two. Your weight will fluctuate. Focus on the long-term trend, not the short. (It’s like the difference between climate and weather.)

Summary

Don’t wait to get started on making better choices for what you eat, and being active. I put it aside for far too long. I’m hopeful that my next visit to the doctor’s office will show that my actions are making me healthier. If you are looking for some support as you try to get started, just let me know. Drop me an email and I’d be happy to help, or connect you with a professional nutritionist (spoiler alert, it’s my sister). I’ve seen a lot of folks in IT with health issues, and I’d like to help reverse that trend.

The post I Lost 50 pounds in 5 Months, Here’s How appeared first on Thomas LaRock.

But that is not the reason for this aside. No, the reason I am writing this is because 140 characters was simply not enough. The other day I saw mention that the best way to get started with any fitness or weight loss program is to incorporate weight training. In my opinion, that statement is a mistake and is going to cause people to hurt themselves as they try to toss around weights as if they were twenty years younger.

No sir, if you really want to see results over a short period of time, then go jump in the pool. You get all the benefits of strength training combined with the fat burning of cardio. Plus, it reverses the aging process as described in this documentary with Wilford Brimley who is still alive at 137 years old. Well, it might be all that oatmeal, but I am certain the swimming is a big reason why as well.

So, for those looking to partake in Active August, go jump in the pool. Your body will thank you. Swimming offers very little pressure on your joints, it gives you just enough resistance as if you were lifting weights, and it increases your lung capacity. I have often heard and read about people in their 80’s that swim moderately a few times a week have the same lung capacity as people less than half their age.

It really is the fountain of youth. When combined with some extra training (running, tennis, basketball, soccer, racquetball, weights, etc.) you can see amazing results in just a few short months. But Active August is about the 31 days, and I intend to make the most of it that I can.

The post Active August Tips appeared first on Thomas LaRock.

I have seen a few different blogs where people spell out exactly what they intend to do over the course of the month. So, I will do the same. And as with many things in my life I will do my best to keep things simple.

• I will weigh myself twice, and only twice. On August 1st and again on September 1st.
• When I am hungry, I will eat.
• I will eat whatever I want.
• I will eat consciously. I will not be distracted by the television, by my laptop, or anything else. I will be conscious of my eating, how quickly I may be eating, and will enjoy every bite.
• When I am full, I will stop eating.
• I will look to burn, on average, about 2,000 calories a week. The calories can be burned by any activity but will probably be done through jogging, swimming, and lifting weights.

You may notice a lot of those same concepts as they are part of the “I Can Make You Thin” series by Paul McKenna. I think it was over a year ago I saw a series of sows on TLC where these concepts were introduced. I have tried them off and on for the past year and they do work but they require some effort in order to break out of the bad habits you have formed over decades.

The post Active August appeared first on Thomas LaRock.

The day started well. The entire family was on the road in time to get into the city before the streets closed. We also found parking, which is always nice, and had enough time to walk over to Bushnell Park for the start. Suzanne has been with me for all three events and she was the first to recognize that something was different about this year’s event. “It seems much more organized”, was her initial comment. And I had to agree with her, it did have that feel to it. Perhaps it was just a matter of having clear signage for everything, or that we knew what to do and where to go, but it certainly felt different.

I met up with a friend from work that I have been training with for most of the summer and we grabbed a spot in the chute close to the start. While we were waiting for the start, I could see my family sitting on a railing above the crowd. I would wave to them every now and then and it made me feel good to know that they were going to be there at the end.

Eventually we were let out of the gates and loose onto the streets of Hartford. The route is different than the previous races I have run, but I had spent time running different sections and I felt very comfortable with the entire course. At about two miles my friend needed to make a pit stop and truthfully so did I, but the queue for the Port-A-Potty was too long for my liking. My friend decided to seek an alternate option and I waited for him, probably more than a minute or so. Before we went another mile I was starting to fade and told my friend that I did not feel right, something was wrong, but I did not know what it could be. So I decided to stop, regardless of the lines.

By the way, if you are running a race and need to stop, and decide to use a Port-A-Potty, carefully evaluate the people in line ahead of you. If there are three units available, and three people are in line ahead of you, that does not mean you should expect a quick turnaround. Why? Well, simply put, men will (on average) take a shorter amount of time than women. I estimate that I lost another three or four minutes waiting in line, followed by about thirty more seconds before I was out and back on the road. Looking back, I wish I had made a dash for the bushes at the State Capitol before the start of the race.

So, after answering Nature’s Call I was back on the road. Oh, my friend? Yeah, he did not wait for me. So, I put on my headphones and focused on the ground. After about a mile I started to feel a little better, but still not quite at my best. Even as I write this I am not certain what the issue was, as I felt I had eaten correctly and I know I had been drinking enough water. Perhaps I had too much, and that is why I felt sluggish.

As we made our way back over the bridge I spotted my so-called friend. I had managed to make up four or five minutes of time in about two and a half miles, so I will assume he walked part of the course. I was about to catch up to him but we were coming upon one of the cheering zones and I wanted to see if I could spot my family. Sadly, no, they were not there. I found out afterwards they arrived about ten minutes after I had gone by.

I caught my friend at the five and a half mile mark, which came about forty eight minutes into the race. It was clear I was not going to set any world records that day and I jogged with my friend for another fifteen minutes or so before pulling away…slowly. I doubt I ever ran any mile in under eight minutes during the day, but I was consistent throughout the race, despite tiring near the end.

At more than one spot I thought about walking, but pressed on. I just did not feel good. I remember coming across the ten mile mark at about an hour and twenty-eight minutes and thinking to myself “okay self. only three miles to go and you can still finish in under two hours, and most importantly, ahead of the marathoners”. So, I again put my head down and tried to find a rhythm, matching pace to the beat of the music and running comfortably. Before I knew it, mile eleven went by and then I started thinking “okay self, two more miles, probably four songs total, and you are done”.

Sure enough, I found mile twelve and started to get a sense that my day was almost over. I had managed to push through those thoughts of giving up, got my focus back, and started to pick up the pace. Well, I tried to pick up the pace, but I was tired. Did I mention I had been running for twelve miles? I waited until I got onto the path that led back to the park to think about how I wanted to finish. I also removed my headphones so that I could hear my family if they yelled to me. We cut through the park, no sign of my family, and we got back onto the street with about a half mile to go.

Now I started to really run strong, but I also knew there was a slight hill at the end, so it was a slow build up of strength. I simply opened my hips a little bit with each stride, which gave me some extra speed, and also some extra distance, with little extra effort on my part. I passed one person, then another, then I got passed by someone. Not a problem, I thought to myself, lots of people are faster than me, do not worry about him. I kept on pushing myself and found the turn that leads through the arch and to the finish. This part is a slight incline, and more people were fading at this point.

I kept gaining speed (or so I thought, for all I know I looked like an idiot, moving his arms and legs convulsively and going nowhere). And then, I heard it.

“PAPA”

Make no mistake about it, that was my little girl screaming at the top of her lungs. Apparently, all three of them had been calling to me, but I did not hear them. Hey, cut me some slack, there was a lot of people there! I did hear the scream and I turned immediately, spotted them, and waved. I also slowed my pace for a moment, but quickly got back on track. As we went down those last fifty meters I passed more people, including the guy who had just passed me. As I went past I said “Don’t slow down now!” and kicked my way right to the end, feeling good and coming in with a gun time of roughly 1:54. So, despite some trouble, I managed to finish in under two hours, without hurting myself, and my family was there.

I had hit the trifecta.

See you next year.

The post Hartford appeared first on Thomas LaRock.

The next hope from there is to keep up with the training and do another half marathon in November, along with Manchester on Thanksgiving. After that, it gets mighty cold around here, and I may not hit the road again until Spring. Unless, of course, I find myself back in Holyoke.

The post Ramping Up appeared first on Thomas LaRock.

Boy, were we wrong. While it was warmer than 2006 (my only other time running), it was not exactly pleasant to stand around waiting for the start. Temperatures were in the mid-30’s, with a brisk wind. It was enough to make me want to skip the race again, much as I did last year when we got a foot of snow the night before.

But I did run, and I am glad I did. After about three miles your body was warm enough, even with the wind kicking you in the face. And the last part of the race the wind was at your back, so it all worked out rather nicely. It is a 10k, and I finished with a net time of 51:54, which was faster than I expected. Two years ago I was about a minute slower, so not much has changed for me in terms of speed. I think the main difference for me now is that I am a smarter runner. I know how to run on the road, how to draw a line, when to pick up the pace, when to lengthen my stride, etc.

Most importantly, knowing my limits, and staying within those limits. When it was over, I said I was looking forward to next year.

Let’s hope it is a little warmer.

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I have an entry for the GA Half Marathon next month, so I am trying to work up to some longer runs. I am hoping this will give me a good base to carry through the Spring, and I intend to apply for another crack at NYC.

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